Don't Step on the Cracks!
by audhds
Summary: Sam and Dean go to visit Cas in the mental institution...cue poetry, flowers, bees, panic attacks and very confused Winchesters! hurt!Cas crazy!Cas Kinda fluffy...


**Ok, at work I keep getting attacked by plot kitties! This one shot is the result…Enjoy! x**

**Don't Step On The Cracks!**

Meg opened the whitewash door and waited for the Winchesters to step inside Cas' room before strolling in herself and demon-mojoing it shut behind her. There was a resonating clunk as the door locked.

She was immediately met by the sound of Castiel humming deeply, as were Sam and Dean, who turned to look at her, well, her vessel, questioningly.

"What is he doing?"

"He's humming, dumbass. Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall, all the King's horses and all the King's men couldn't put Humpty together again."

Meg intoned the old nursery rhyme dryly.

"Ironic, isn't it. Falling and all that…he really has cracked this time. Have fun trying to get through to him."

Dean shrugged off his jacked and made his way over to Castiel, who was sitting up in his bed cocooned in fourteen blankets and a thick quilt.

"Meg, why is he all done up like a Christmas turkey?"

"It makes him feel safe. Apparently in heaven they used to get all cosy like and wrap their wings around each other for support, comfort and warmth."

Meg shuddered.

"Ugh, just thinking about it makes my meat suit crawl, but it was the only way I could persuade Feathers here to get some sleep."

Dean nodded at this and took a few steps towards Castiel, planning on perching on the bed next to him, but Cas' head suddenly shot up and he began to cower in terror, screaming and waving his left arm, whilst protecting his face with his right arm.

"CRACKS!"

"Woah, woah, hey, Cas, it's me, relax man."

"CRACKS…bad, no, don't, stop, bad cracks. STOP IT...BAD!"

"Cas…Meg, what do I do?!"

"You're standing on the cracks." Dean stared back at her blankly.

"The cracks in the floor; don't walk on them."

Dean stared at her incredulously but did as she said, Sam doing the same.

Cas stopped yelling, his arms falling flaccidly on top of the blankets as he tilted his head to get a closer look at Dean.

"Why can't we wall on the cracks? What was all that about?"

"It's an urban legend Dean, y'know, supposedly it's bad luck to step on the cracks between tiles."

"Right…" Dean cautiously approached Castiel again, keeping his feet within each tile and raising his hands to show he meant Castiel no harm. This was a whole new level of crazy.

"Heya Cas, how are you doing?"

"Hello Dean." Well, at least he recognized the eldest Winchester brother.

"Uh, how are you feeling?"

"I'm good, no, I'm awesome. That is the correct term, right?"

"Yes, yeah it is Cas."

"I thought so. Meg has been teaching me some things."

"Oh, right. Like what?"

"Different human phrases. She says I am improving, and she taught me more about the Pizza Man."

"Woah man, way too much information."

"Sorry…anyway, in turn I have been teaching her poetry."

"Yes Clarence, it's delightful." Sarcasm dripped from Meg's tone, but Cas either didn't notice, or didn't mind.

"Will you look at her? My caretaker. All of that thorny pain, isn't she so beautiful."

_"Every rose may have its thorns,_

_Its beauty marred by lust..._

_But despite Meg's evil and devil horns,_

_She's the one I fully trust."_

Dean stared at Castiel as if he had started to blabber on in Enochian.

Poetry?

Really?

"Why thank you Clarence." Meg smiled softly and perched on the edge of Castiel's bed, squeezing his shoulder before turning to go. Dean found it hard to gage whether she was being sincere or sarcastic. It was a fine line with Meg.

"I think I'll take my leave, before he starts reciting Shakespeare or something."

Dean and Sam watched as she walked out of the room, slightly uncertain about what to do. Sam felt dreadful, it was his fault that Cas was in this state, that the former angel was now a nervous wreck who panicked when people walked on cracks on the floor.

Dean looked down at his fallen angel and perched on the edge of his bed.

"So Cas, how are you liking it here?"

"Oh I love it, there is a room where we can play games and sometimes, when I am good, Meg takes me out into the gardens and I can watch the flowers bloom and the insects. My favorites are the bees and the roses. They are beautiful and sweet, but at the same time they have thorns and a sting. I guess they remind me of me a bit, they try their hardest to be perfect…but…"

"Hey Cas, no one's perfect, especially not us." Sam smiled at the former angel and settled down on the bed on the other side to Dean.

Cas gave a small smile and wrapped an arm around the Winchesters.

"I love you guys."

Dean bit his lip; he really didn't deserve Cas' love, not after leaving the fallen angel behind in this dump.

"We love you too man, look, the thing is, we're loosing ground, we need your help really bad. Why don't you come back to the bunker with us?"

"No."

"What do you mean no?"

"I like it here. And Meg looks after me. I'm happy…and I'm bad luck Dean. I break whatever I touch."

Dean tried to keep the fear and anger out of his voice. But he knew they deserved this.

"Well that's just peachy. We should go then…" Dean felt his heart break when he saw Cas' hopeful expression fade into a look of hurt.

"Look, Cas, don't get mad, we just…I didn't mean to be harsh. It's just; I hoped you would help us fight."

"I don't fight anymore, and you were very confrontational, Dean."

"No I wasn't…I just mean…"

"Are you arguing with me?"

"No!"

"I don't like conflict." Suddenly Castiel disappeared, leaving a mound of sheets behind.

"Shit."

"I think you hurt his feelings."

"No kidding. What do we do?"

"I don't know Dean. Maybe we should leave him be. He's better off without us."

"Yeah."

Dean stood and walked out of the room, pulling his jacket tightly around himself and feeling like a jerk.

He didn't deserve Cas…they would just have to work the tablet out some other way.

Cas didn't need to be put under any more strain.

He wouldn't approach the angel again, as much as it hurt; he knew that Cas was better off without them.

But what he didn't know was that Cas was often disappearing from the institution, hovering just out of sight and keeping an eye out for him.

A guardian angel so to speak, even if he was falling apart.

He may not like conflict, but he would never let anything happen to his Winchesters.

He would always be there to protect them, even if they did not know or deserve it, and eventually, they would help put him back together.

They would mend the cracks in their angel, one by one.

**The End**

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